A memorial volume of sacred poetry by the late Sir John Bowring. To which is prefixed, a memoir of the author, by Lady Bowring |
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Truth in Progress.
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 | A memorial volume of sacred poetry |  |
34
Truth in Progress.
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The subjoined poem having been addressed to Sir John Bowring, he wrote for the Paper in which it was published the following Reply to Sir W. à Beckett.
Yes! hopeful—trustful—onward ever,
Each helping each—all urging all;
The mighty stream, receding never;
The rippling flow—the waterfall.
Slow—swift, but irresistibly,
Rolls the grand tide of tendency!
Each helping each—all urging all;
The mighty stream, receding never;
The rippling flow—the waterfall.
Slow—swift, but irresistibly,
Rolls the grand tide of tendency!
There are who moor their heavy barge,
As fain to stop the river's course,
But there it rots upon the marge:
While with untired, majestic force,
As planets circling round the sun,
The confluent current hastens on.
As fain to stop the river's course,
But there it rots upon the marge:
While with untired, majestic force,
As planets circling round the sun,
The confluent current hastens on.
Whither? we know not; but we know
The law of progress—better, best;
More thought, more truth, more beauty glow,
As in their varying race or rest
Our still advancing spirits move,
Towards wider spheres of light and love.
The law of progress—better, best;
More thought, more truth, more beauty glow,
As in their varying race or rest
Our still advancing spirits move,
Towards wider spheres of light and love.
| A memorial volume of sacred poetry | |